Over the past generation, the costs of computer, i.e. digital processing, resources have been rapidly decreasing, due in part to miniaturization of components, and continual breakthroughs in digital communications. On the other hand, the costs of energy and attendant energy processing have been increasing due to rising energy demands resulting from worldwide industrialization and the depletion of the energy resources in the world. Also, the disposal and recycling of the by-products of energy consumption have given rise to increasing costs and potential health problems with energy consumption waste products.
Accordingly, technological innovations that use the increasingly available digital processing resources to bring down the costs and effects of energy consumption are considered to be very desirable.